


Demon Hunter

by oursisthefury



Category: Bates Motel
Genre: demon/demon hunting au, so gunner hunts demons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-10
Updated: 2017-05-11
Packaged: 2018-10-30 10:10:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10874595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oursisthefury/pseuds/oursisthefury
Summary: Gunner is traveling out of White Pine Bay when he runs into something that changes his life and also means that he can't leave White Pine Bay just yet.





	1. Chapter 1

He thought that his plan of moving to California would work out. There was no way Dylan’s legal weed business was going anywhere and California had opportunity which he was going to take hold of. He wasn’t very good at any other jobs that didn’t involve being a weed trimmer, he was helpful with building and he knew how to sing and play guitar but those really weren’t helpful things. He just hoped that California would be better.

Gunner had just entered out of White Pine Bay and he was enjoying a smoke while driving which was probably not the smartest idea and Rex was happily drooling beside him in the front seat. He rolled down the window and let the dog stick his head out with a happy bark and already he was enjoying the tranquility of being a free bird again. That was until things went horribly wrong.

He was turning around a bend and it was getting darker but not so dark to where he couldn’t see anything yet and his headlights caught a figure in the road. “What the hell-” He exclaimed and he wrenched the steering wheel hard to the side and slammed on the brakes. The car veered and Rex howled as the car slid down into the ditch. Gunner got out of the car in anger (when he got it to a solid stop) and he slammed the door with a loud bang, leaving Rex inside. “Hey, you! What are you doing? Why are you standing in the road like that?” He shouted at the figure as he continued to approach it. Usually he was a pretty chill guy, but this person could have gotten them all killed. He squinted at the form in the half darkness, it definitely looked human and it was just standing there in the middle of the road, swaying, with its back towards him. In hindsight, maybe he should’ve packed up and left right there but he persisted as the figure swayed eerily. As he got closer, he saw that the person wasn’t wearing anything that he could see, they were just drenched in darkness. “Hello?” He called to them when he was only a few feet away. “Are you ok?” And then his blood ran cold when it finally turned around.

Gunner was frozen in place by the sight. The figure turned towards him but that’s when it stopped looking human. It had big glowing white eyes that seemed to be pulsing and a jagged grin was pushed across its face. Its body was slouched and it still swayed, then all the light around it seemed to fade and be absorbed into its already black body. It opened its mouth and let out piercing shriek that easily could’ve shattered all the mirrors in the area and he heard the windows of his car crack as Rex let out a painful howl. Black tendrils arched from its back and then it began to advance towards him in a slow staggering motion, jerking and wrenching to the side. That’s when his legs finally began to work and he ran as fast as he could to his car where Rex’s howl was becoming more and more forlorn. Gunner’s heart was pounding as he practically slammed up against his car door and frantically pulled at the handle. Although he had been smoking earlier, he was certain that he wasn’t hallucinating this thing because the whole thing felt very real. He wrenched open the car door but something cold and wet latched onto his leg and dragged him out, causing him to smash his chin on the ground and when he rolled over, it was looming over him. He grappled with it, giving it a solid kick and trying to push it away but it just kept coming and then it must have gotten tired of the charade because it grabbed him with its dripping and smoking clawed hands, tossing him against the car so hard that the last thing he saw was it standing over him. He blacked out when it dripped black ooze onto his face from its abnormally large teeth. And all he could think about was leaving to go to California had been a bad idea.  
\---------------------------------------  
There was something wet sliding over his face and it kind of tickled too. He shoved at the thing and it let out a quick bark. “Rex?” Gunner asked as he sat up blearily, squinting and rubbing his eyes as his dog jumped on him and licked his face. “Calm down, boy.” He told the dog as it nearly knocked him down. What had happened? Why wasn’t he dead? It was now light out and he was lying on the grass; he glanced over and saw that the car was still there.

“I thought you’d never wake up.” A female voice said to his left and he whirled around in surprise. Perched on top of the hood of another car was a girl that Gunner swore he knew. She had short brown blonde hair with heavy mascara, making her look kind of like a raccoon. She was dressed in jeans, a plaid shirt and combat boots. She also wore a smug look on her face which told him that she knew something but she wasn’t letting onto what just yet. “Cute dog you have.” She commented as she slid down from her car and crouched down on the ground. She whistled and Rex ran right to her, “Rex, is it?” She asked as she ran her fingers through his dog’s fur. He nodded dumbly and then it clicked for him, she was Cody Brennan. She was there when Emma had almost died during the swimming incident and it seemed like she and Norman were a thing before he killed her dad and she had to leave town.

“What’s going on?” He demanded. “What are you doing here? Where’s that thing?” He looked around but he didn’t see any trace of it having been there. She laughed as she ruffled Rex’s fur. “So many questions, I’ll have to take them one at a time. Firstly, that thing is dead. I killed it before it could kill you. You’re welcome by the way.” She said smugly. Killed it? That didn’t make sense. It didn’t seem easily killable as she was making it out to be. It had seemed like an indestructible force to him especially how it had taken him down. 

“That thing.. How did you kill it?” He questioned in confusion. “What was it? It wasn’t human, that much I could tell.. But that’s not possible is it?” Cody grinned. “Like I said, I’ll get to all your questions as soon as I can. After all, it is my job to answer any you might have, I guess. But yes, you’re right, it wasn’t human.” Gunner blanched when she said this. Not human? This was too much, and now his head was pounding, presumably from being knocked in the head. He pressed a hand to his head and winced at the pain, there was definitely a lump and the rest of his body ached too. “That thing you saw was a demon.” Cody told him simply, like it was no big deal. “Demon?” He repeated incredulously. Now it really seemed liked he was high or at least hallucinating from something. 

“Yeah, this may be a lot to take in but demons are real. Some like to refer to them as tortured or corrupted spirits or souls. But they definitely are out to do evil. People can’t actually see them unless they have a gift that allows them too, like you and me.” She explained, letting Rex run back to him and she got up and sat down on the grass across from him. “A gift?” What did she mean? Why could he see them? And why could she? “You see.. We’re different from your normal lot of people. We have the gift of being able to see demons. The gift is only given to a person when it is deemed necessary, like in your case. There’s a lot of demon activity stirring up in White Pine Bay. Usually demons are dormant, trapped by nature's powers but sometimes they are allowed to escape and then they cause a whole lot of destruction. If a town or whatever goes to shit and there’s no real reason for it, then it was probably demons. I was given the sight as soon as I reached my aunt because there was trouble stirring up in the neighborhood and I’ve been involved in the fight ever since.” She was easily explaining it but his head was spinning. “But this thing wasn’t even in White Pine Bay.” He pointed out. “That’s true but it still came from there. It was just attracted to the energy you gave off. A demon hunter is a huge occurrence to those who can sense it.”

“Demon hunter?” Gunner could feel himself becoming more and more lost. “Yeah, that’s your life now. You’re a demon hunter just like me. I was told of your arrival, Gunner, and I could sense where you were. Luckily I was able to reach you before the demon took you out. By the way, the reason the demon looked like a human was because demons are humans at least they used to be, so they take shape in a form that looks vaguely human but I guess you might have figured that out already since I mentioned the tortured souls bit.” She shrugged and pulled out some grass from the ground, twisting it around her fingers. “I still don’t understand what I could possibly do about these demons.” He told her. “And I don’t even want this gift.”

“Well, too bad. It’s your life now. You got the gift, so you got the job. It’s not that bad actually. You get to be hero, although you don’t really get that much recognition for it.. It’s better if people don’t find out about the demons.” She stood up, tossed the grass into the wind, and walked over to her car where she pulled a bag out of the back seat and then tossed it onto the ground in front of Gunner. “Here’s all you need to fight the demons.” She told him and then waited expectantly for him to open it. He tentatively leaned over and unzipped the bag as Rex sniffed at it suspiciously. It was filled with several knives and he pulled out a gun from it. “Does this new skill give me special strength, like Buffy the vampire slayer or something?” He prompted, because he wasn’t sure how knives were going to cut it against these things, although the machete in there looked handy. “Sort of.” Cody replied vaguely with a small shrug. “You don’t really get a power boost but you definitely get more resilient to being knocked around. You won’t be as sore the next time you get hurt because the gift will have strengthened by then. It might take awhile to get the hang of fighting and killing these demons but then it will get easier. The blades in the bag are a special kind that only cut through demons. They won’t actually hurt a human, same with the bullets in the gun. If you let me know where you're staying at White Pine Bay, I can send you more supplies.”

“Shit. I was supposed to be leaving White Pine Bay. How do I explain me being back there?” Gunner asked, thinking back to Dylan and how he quit on him although Dylan did seem like he had wanted to fire Gunner himself… He got the impression that Dylan hadn’t really liked him and he didn't quite know why. Maybe it had something to do with Emma? “Good question.” Cody commented. “You don’t. You should try to keep things on the down low. Try to find exactly where the demons are coming from and eliminate that source. If you eliminate it, you may not even have to stay there forever. Like I said before, demons are rarely out and about.” “How do I kill demons?” He asked, zipping up the bag. “An even better question.” She declared with much enthusiasm. “You cut off its head, cut it in half, and stab it or shoot it where its heart is supposed to be. Usually when it dies, it disintegrates into smoke or melts but depending on its type or how you kill it, it may linger a bit before it disappears. Which is no big deal since people can’t even see it. And before you ask, yes, there are types of demons. Different levels of them, some are stronger than others, some are faster and some are more dangerous. Some are gooey or smokey or both like the one you saw. They have so many different features to explain.”

He nodded along to what she was saying but it was a lot to take in and he was sure that he missed half of it. “And as a bonus, Rex, your dog can see the demons, since animals are able to see supernatural forces. So he can help you fight and scout for demons.” She looked like she was enjoying herself, being able to school him on all of this. “Oh! And, I almost forgot..” Cody said, digging into her pant pocket and handing him a crumpled piece of paper. “If you really need to reveal a demon to a human, here’s a chant for it. Only you can actually make the demon appear, it won’t work if someone else does it. Hmm..” She mused and she looked deep in thought. “I don’t think I’m leaving anything out.. But if you give me your number, you can call me if you have any questions.” She held out her phone and he finally stood up from the ground, dusting himself off as he entered his phone number into her phone. “You should probably get all your windows fixed.” Cody commented with a little smirk as he handed her back her phone. He glanced over at his car and saw that all the glass was broken out and sighed in defeat. “You got stuck with a screamer unfortunately.” She declared. “And those are never any fun.”

“See you around then?” Gunner asked as he grabbed the bag and directed Rex back inside the vehicle, tossing the bag in the backseat. “Sure.” She grinned. “I’ll have to stop by and see how you’re faring. Just let me know if you need any help. Sorry about just leaving you out here as well. I just thought it would be better if I didn’t move you.” She told him earnestly, stepping into her car. “It’s cool.” He assured her. “Thanks for the help and catch you later.” Gunner waved goodbye to her as she drove away and left him standing there with his head spinning more than ever. Today had certainly been a trip.

“Well, I guess it’s back to White Pine Bay then, huh, boy?” He rubbed Rex’s head affectionately as the dog barked. Then he started the car and turned around, heading towards an old place but a new chapter in his life.  
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	2. Chapter 2

When he reached the town again, he knew he couldn’t stay anywhere that he could be seen by others that knew him so Bates Motel was out of the question. Also that other motel was too close for comfort as well. He decided that for the time being, he was going to have to sleep in his car unfortunately and hidden away somewhere in the woods. He had to stay at a car repair shop for a while where they fixed up his car. When he was questioned about how his windows had been all broken out, he shrugged and told the guy that it was vandalism and then he waited for it to be fixed. It was expensive and he would need to find some odd jobs to make up for it. Too bad the weed business wasn’t a business anymore in White Pine Bay, it had been a good money maker before all that. To try to be in legal weed just wasn’t going to cut it as Dylan must’ve found out by now.

He pulled his now newly fixed car into an area of the woods surrounding the town, he made sure that it wasn’t near Dylan’s place. He was ok with sleeping in his car but he did want an actual place to stay soon and he knew that Rex wasn’t too comfy. Gunner hopped out of the car to stretch his legs and to check his new surroundings, he hoped that no surprises would come, but he grabbed the gun and a knife just in case. Just as he was feeling good that no demons would pop up, Rex bolted into the woods in a frenzy of barking. “Hey, Rex!” He called but Rex kept running. “Get back here!” He shouted exasperatedly but he was forced to run after the dog. Maybe Rex was just on the trail of an animal, or maybe another dog was nearby. He hoped that Rex wouldn’t get into another dog fight.

And there he saw it, Rex was already jumping on it. It was swaying by a creek and when his dog bit into it, it let out a roar. It was a lot bigger and drippier than the other had been, and it had yellow eyes and more jagged teeth. Why did his dog already have to plunge into the thick of it? It was like Rex already knew the mission plan and he was set on making ends meet. The demon shook its arm furiously as Rex dragged it from side to side and it seemed to be growing in size, tendrils appearing just like the other one. He swore and he grabbed his gun as it seemed better to shoot it than just run right into it with a knife, besides he had more openings since Rex was hanging from it. He cocked the gun and aimed right at its head, although his hands were shaking much more than he wanted them to. The shot rang out but of course, it missed the monster by a few inches and by that time, it had already set its soulless eyes on him. With a great snarl, it rose up and flung Rex off, and the dog skidded across the ground and instead of moving slow and steady as the other one had done, it shot towards him like a bullet and it backhanded him so hard that he saw stars when he crashed to the ground.

‘Not good. Not good.’ He thought as he heard his dog barking furiously in the background, already this job was not faring well for him. It lunged at him but he rolled out of its reach, its clawed hands hit the ground so hard that the surface cracked, sending bits of turf every which way. His gun had landed behind it so it was of no use to him anymore. Gunner scrambled to his feet and brought out the knife instead. The demon lunged again, raking its huge claws at him, and he barely managed to avoid it. Its claws snagged his shirt slightly, ripping at it and sending black ooze spraying onto him. He looked for a good angle but he didn’t find any until Rex jumped at its back, causing a minor distraction and so he charged.

The knife embedded itself in the creature’s chest and it let out a warbled scream. He twisted it deeper, he was pressed up against its oozing, cold body and it smelled of decay. Gunner tore the knife from its chest, sending a spray of black liquid, presumably blood, into the air and it splattered on his face and chest, and the creature fell to the ground, melting into a pile of goo. He stared at the pile of goo absorbing into the grass for a while, panting and huffing, trying to catch his breath. Rex sniffed the pile and then drew back with distaste. “Hey, bud, can you believe it? We killed our first demon together!” He exclaimed excitedly as he took the dogs paws in his hands and did a little celebratory dance of victory with him. Rex soon squirmed from his grip afterwards but the dog did seem just as excited and thrilled as he was. “Ew...” He commented, looking at his shirt which was stained with black ooze, it was shiny like oil but it obviously was something otherworldly. He wiped the grime from his face and he wiped the knife off on the ground too. When he and Rex got back to the car after he grabbed his gun and did a quick look around, all he could think of was how there was one less demon in White Pine Bay now.

He texted Cody, ‘Guess who just bagged their first demon together!’. She texted back, ‘Nice! You and Rex will make a solid team, I’m sure of it. As long as you don’t get killed. ;)’   
\-----------------------------------  
Fast forward to about a week or so after his first encounter with a demon, he was what he now considered to be a pro. He was bagging demons left and right and there were a lot of them to get. He was still a little nervous sometimes when it came to dealing with them but it was just like another job, except dangerous and you had to keep it a secret because you couldn’t just say you were fighting demons to someone. He had gotten into a few close shaves and had gotten minor injuries but he was doing well. Sometimes it was hard to keep trying to avoid people he knew but he hadn’t run into anyone yet.

He still wasn’t any closer to finding out where the demons had come from. There wasn’t an obvious source. Perhaps it had to do with the murders in the town and the drug stuff, but he wasn’t certain. 

Right then he was making his daily rounds on the backroads to see if there was an activity. The demons didn’t venture into the town itself, just the surrounding woods and roads but if they did, they did it at night which made it harder for him to see them but it was good for not being seen by anyone. He would just look like nut to people since they couldn’t see the demons. As he turned the bend, he saw curiously that the sheriff’s car was stopped on the road, it looked to have a flat tire and his eyes widened in shock when he saw that Sheriff Romero had an obvious dark aura floating above and behind him.

Gunner stopped the car, Romero hadn’t seen him yet, he was inspecting a tire and he slowly backed it up and pulled into a spot just so that his car was hidden from Romero’s line of vision. He didn’t know what to do. Cody hadn’t mentioned that humans could be demons, er, they were demons but only when they were dead. But the Sheriff was obviously one and the same. He grabbed his knife and tucked it into his pants where it couldn’t be seen, a gun would likely be noticed and it was loud. And it would be bad if he missed. He decided to leave Rex in the car because he didn’t want the dog to just go and jump on Romero. He didn’t want to do it but Romero was a demon and he killed demons.

He crossed through the thicket and appeared out the other side behind Romero. There was like another figure behind the man, an inky shadow that hovered and wavered. Gunner swallowed nervously at the idea of having to kill a person, especially the Sheriff, he was already scary enough. He didn’t think he and Romero had ever met personally but he knew the man by reputation and the fear was kicking in.

Gunner crept as silently as he could over to the man, his breath caught in his throat as the other stood up from looking at the tire, muttering profanities but he didn’t turn around. He then resumed his motions, drawing the knife from its hiding spot and driving it towards the Sheriff’s heart. It was like Romero had a sixth sense or something because he turned around just in time and caught Gunner’s arm, wrenching it back and flipping Gunner so that he landed on his back with a grunt of surprise. “What the fuck?” Romero snarled at him as he whipped out his gun and loomed over Gunner. “What were you trying to do?” He snapped, his eyes were daggers and he sounded really pissed.

“I- I, uh,” Gunner tried but he couldn’t make anything coherent come out, he was too shocked, all he could do was stare up at the Sheriff dumbly. “Well?” Romero barked, grabbing Gunner by his shirt and jerking him up so he could slam him up against the car. Gunner winced when his back hit it and tried to think of a way out of the situation but he could find nothing that would make a good plan. “You’re a demon.” He blurted out and he immediately regretted it because of how stupid it sounded. What if Romero had no clue what he was? This whole thing was just a huge mistake. “What?” Romero lowered his gun slightly and he seemed to be put off. Gunner slumped slightly, shaking his head in disbelief about how stupid he was when the Sheriff spoke and it was his turn to be confused. “How do you know that?” He questioned suspiciously, his eyes narrowed and his gun still lowering. 

“I can see demons.” He explained, carefully pushing himself away from the car as Romero took a step back. “I hunt them.” He said slowly and a bit nervously. Romero gave an irritated sigh. “So you’re one of them, huh?” He asked. “Huh?” Gunner uttered. Romero shook his head in disbelief and he put his gun away. “The ones with the sight.” He told Gunner as if he was talking to a child. “Don’t you know that I’m a good demon?” He huffed, crossing his arms. A good demon? He didn’t think that was possible. “I’m er, new to the trade.” Gunner shifted uneasily from foot to foot. The Sheriff rolled his eyes. “So that’s your excuse for trying to kill me? Unbelievable.” 

“So no one told you about demons like me?” He prompted and Gunner shook his head. “I’m a special case, a human demon hybrid. The demon side that is in humans, came out too soon and I wasn’t even a tortured soul or anything. My kind is pretty rare and I’m not a threat to anyone.” He explained and Gunner nodded. “I even have documentation, see? This says, do not gut me.” The Sheriff dug into his pocket angrily and slapped a card into Gunner’s hand. He glanced over it and saw that it said ‘demon human hybrid. Do not kill. Non hostile.’ “Where did you get this?” He inquired, flipping it over in his hand. “Don’t you know anything?” The other man fumed. “From the council. Where else?” He said flippantly. “If you want to make it out here, I’d suggest getting a better teacher. And not blindly jumping into things.” He chided and Gunner almost wanted to hang his head in shame. 

“Here.” He mumbled, embarrassed and he handed the card back to the Sheriff. “What’s your name?” Romero asked and Gunner could tell he was going to keep this little altercation recorded to memory. “Gunner.” Gunner told him. “Gunner.” Romero repeated stoically. “Get the hell out of here.” He ordered, “Before I change my mind and write you up.” He didn’t need to tell Gunner twice, he was already picking up his knife and running away from the situation.

When he got back to the car, Rex was barking angrily and he had to give him a lot of attention to get him to calm down. He angrily pulled out his phone and dialed Cody’s number, he couldn’t believe that she had neglected to tell him this. Actually he could, she seemed lax in some areas of expertise. And he was certain that he didn’t forget those details. “What’s up?” She answered the phone sounding just as smug as she did when he talked to her after his first meeting with a demon. “You didn’t tell me about human demon hybrids.” He said crossly and she paused a bit before finally saying. “Shit, dude. Are you sure?” “I’m sure.” He told her sourly. “Well, they aren’t that common… And I suppose that’s why I may have forgotten them.” Cody told him simply. “Aren’t that common?” Gunner heard himself snap. “Then how do you explain me meeting one right off the bat?” 

“How did it go?” She asked avoiding his other statement. “Did you kill them? You get in trouble for shit like that.” She said. “No, I tried to, but I got caught. It was Romero.” “The Sheriff?” She sounded really surprised. “Yeah.” “Wow, I didn’t know he was one of them.” Cody seemed really intrigued. “He caught me trying to kill him and then he told me off about it. He even gave me a card that said I couldn’t kill him, from the council.” “The council? He’s really legit.” Cody sounded impressed. “How did you get away with that? You didn’t get arrested did you? Are you calling me from jail?” She ended that sentence with a little laugh. “He didn’t arrest me. He just ridiculed me. I told him that I was a new demon hunter and he told me that you were a shitty teacher for not telling me about his kind.” “That was only a fluke. I told you about everything else.” Cody insisted. “Uh huh. What about this council business?” He prompted. “Oh, ok. I haven’t met them face to face exactly… but I know they’re stuffy. They manage everything. Like human demon hybrids as you saw.” She supplied. “What do you mean by ‘exactly’?” He wondered aloud. “These hooded figures came to me and told me about who I was. I didn’t have another demon hunter telling me things like you do. I guess you could call it a meeting but I don’t know who they were and if they were even human.” She said a little uneasily. “Uh, will I ever meet them?” Gunner asked a little put off. “Hmm, I don’t know. Time will tell. I gotta go though, I see a demon ahead of me. It’s a real messy looking one. If you have any questions call me later or text me. Bye!” Cody told him cheerily and she hung up before he got another word in. 

Gunner let out a sigh of frustration, putting his phone away and Rex whined. Now he had even more things to worry about. Who or what was this council? Would it or they give him a helping hand there at White Pine Bay? Only time would tell like Cody Brennan said.


End file.
